YOUR VOTE. YOUR RIGHT. YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

The General Election 14 (GE14) is not too far away. It will be held on Wednesday, 9 May 2018. As you know, our country is now facing its greatest political, economical and social crisis. The many issues troubling our nation includes the ever-rising cost of living, goods and service tax (GST) which was introduced in 2015, 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) which involves billions of Ringgit, the weakening currency and corruption in all sectors.

Many of us hope this GE14 will be the turning point of our nation. We have one last chance to really form a decent government. If you choose civic-minded leaders, surely our nation will progress for the better, and the time has come to vote for a brighter future. Every registered voter has the right and responsibility to choose their leader, to shape the future of our nation. We need to make our voices heard and take a stand for righteousness.

You may ask, does my vote make a difference? Surely it does! Every citizen has a moral duty to vote. Our vote will pave the path for the future of our children. As Christians, we have the sacred duty and responsibility to vote in our convictions and to vote for leaders who promote justice and peace, to lead our nation toward righteousness and for the common good. Every citizen should stand and follow the command to fulfil our civic duty, “Pay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and God what belongs to God,” (Matt 22: 21).

Throughout the novena and feast of St Joseph the Worker starting Sunday, 22 April to Tuesday, 1 May 2018, we will pray for the upcoming GE14. We are commanded to pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-4). We will pray and offer Masses for our voters, for their discernment to choose a leader that will help build a better nation. We also pray for a fair and clean election process. We pray that the new leaders will be able to correct past mistakes, so that our nation will live peacefully and prosperously.

On the evening before election, Tuesday, 8 May 2018, we will have Mass at 7.30pm, followed by Holy Hour at 8.00pm. My dear parishioners, I invite you to come together for the evening prayer and Mass to pray for a smooth election without any uprisings, riots or cheating. Your vote is so precious and when you cast your ballot into the ballot box, please say a simple prayer and make sure your vote is counted.

Just for your info, I will leave to Penang to cast my vote. I have not changed my voting location for 20 years, as for some reason I prefer to vote there.

After casting our votes, let’s continue our good work by being productive, giving our service to people and nation. Keep praying, serving, witnessing, helping your neighbours and loving one another. Let’s make sure that we spend time between now and polling date, praying and promoting ways to make our society more harmonious and united. Pray for our beloved Malaysia.

ENCOUNTERING THE RISEN LORD

Today’s Gospel (LK 25: 35-48) speaks about Christ’s encounter with the two disciples on the road to a village, a village called Emmaus Emmaus. Jesus was journeying with the disciples and they found themselves struggling to believe the good news that Jesus is risen and He is alive! They struggled to grasp even though Jesus was right in front of them in resurrected form.
When they returned to Jerusalem and they reported to the other disciples what they had seen in the Breaking of the Bread (the Eucharistic celebration).

Christ’s resurrection is the most important event in human history.

The disciples really struggled to grasp what had happened in Jerusalem. This huge thing had happened – Jesus was dead and now He is alive. They began to aware of the emptiness of life in the absence of real hope, they felt deeply how empty life was without Jesus.

Jesus still needs witnesses today. We who have received the gift of faith have an obligation to share it with others. The world needs witnesses. We need to witness to the transforming power of Christ in the Eucharist. Do I bring my family and friends closer to Our Lord in the Eucharist?

HAPPENING IN THE PARISH

We had a very meaningful and solemn Holy Week and Easter Triduum celebrations. Despite your work and other duties, you have taken so much trouble to participate in the holiest of days celebrations. I am happy to see that many of you without fail attended these solemn celebrations. Our experiences of worship during the Triduum enkindled a deeper kind of conversion, hope and trust in the Risen Lord.

On this Sunday, 8 April, we shall have a formation on “Sustainable Living” by Ms Adelene Anthony Sinniah. She is an expert in the area on Environmental Management and Sustainability. Sustainable living is a lifestyle that attempts to reduce our demand on the Earth’s natural resources and personal resources.  We shall invite all parents of catechism students and all those are interested to attend on it. This session will help us to start practicing to live a sustainable life and to preserve the earth.

As a continuation on this sustainable living session, on the following Sunday, 15 April, our Catechism students will set up an exhibition on “Take Care Our Common Earth” in our Church Hall. During the season of Lent our Catechism teachers had formations for our catechism students both in English and Tamil focusing on care for the earth, our common home. These formations were basically to make them aware of their responsibilities of individuals in shaping the future of our earth. The teachers gave them some assignments and activities to be carried out during the Lenten Season. During the exhibition they will display all their projects. The Catechetical Ministry invites all parents to be present in the hall (10.30 am-12.00 noon). What kind of world are we going to leave to our kids who now growing up? Let’s come together to educate them as they grow in their relationships with nature.

There will be a “Graceful Aging Programme” for 7 weeks specially for senior citizens aged 60 to 75 years old conducted by Miss Molly Rajan. She is a psychologist and researcher with the National University of Malaysia (UKM) who conducts programmes for senior citizens. These programmes include a lot of interesting group dynamics discussion, various activities, fun videos, games, etc. and at the end certificates will be presented to the participations. These programmes may help you to improve your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects which will make the rest of years, the best ones.  Do not miss the opportunity. After the 9.00 am Mass on Sunday, 15 April 2018 we encourage all senior citizens to come for a briefing session at Conference Room (Ground floor).

Every year our youths coordinates a “Youth Rally” and this year it will take place on 21 April at our Church Formation Hall with the theme, “Be Not Afraid.” The presenters are professors from well-known colleges and will focus on four aspects:

·      Who is this seated before me?

·      Can being on a social media platform set us free? How can we better use the digital platform to serve God?

·      Let’s loose the masks: Identifying who we can become amidst a world of constant change?

·      It’s time for you to shine.

My dear young people do come and join. I am sure you will be transformed and you will be courageous enough to go forth and shine to others.

This year we are celebrating the 110^th year of the establishment of our Church (est. 1908). In conjunction with this we will begin our Novena and Feast day celebrations starting from Sunday, 22 April till 1 May 2018. The flyers and posters have been distributed to all parishioners and various parishes in the KL Archdiocese. Let's invite our families, relatives and friends for this celebration. St Joseph pray for us!

JESUS IS MY LORD AND MY GOD

Without the Resurrection, Christians would be the most hopeless of all people. The Resurrection stands out forever as the greatest. It doesn't demand intellectual acceptance, but more importantly, the element of FAITH.

Jesus’ appearance to the disciples in today's Gospel reading (JN 20: 19-31) is actually the second time He appeared to them after His resurrection.

Christ’s promise to “receive the Holy Spirit” (JN 19:22) is an affirmation of the Great Commission. When the Risen Lord breathed the Holy Spirit on the disciples, He commissioned His mission to them. The apostles, then, received their commission to witness to the truth and be instruments of healing and forgiveness. The Holy Spirit accompanies us on our faith journey, just as He did for the disciples.

We have received both the commission and the Holy Spirit to do Christ’s works in transforming our faith into a living experience, “…do not be unbelieving, but believing,” (Jn. 20:27). Resurrection gives us emphasis to new life and rebirth. It requires our surrender to the Holy Spirit and to grow in Christian maturity and opens wide our hearts to the message of the Risen Lord.

A CELEBRATION OF VICTORY

This year, Ash Wednesday coincided with Valentine’s Day and Easter with April Fool’s Day. God willing, we will celebrate Lent and Easter again on Valentine’s Day and April Fool’s Day respectively, in the year 2029.

Today we can once again sing the “Halleluiah” that we have not sung all through Lent. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad,” (Ps 118:24). The Lord has risen. He has risen, indeed. The crucifixion is a historical event; the resurrection is a faith event. “If Christ is not raised, your faith is in vain,” (1 Cor 15:17). Without the Resurrection there would be no Church and there would be no Christians. The Resurrection is everything for us Christians, and without it, we would be nothing. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said, “The Christian faith stands or falls with the truth of the testimony that Christ is risen from the dead.”

It is Easter. In the Catholic Church, Easter is a lengthy season at fifty days. In the next few weeks we will walk with the disciples who encountered the risen Lord, until his Ascension and then we will await the Holy Spirit’s coming at Pentecost. We have begun living the greatest mysteries of our Faith in the Sacred Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil) and will continue to do so through the Easter season. So why do we keep celebrating when those around us have moved on? We continue to celebrate because it is the highest, holiest, happiest and most important days of the year.

In this season, we shall deepen our understanding of this great mystery and truth of our faith in His resurrection. During this time, we should read and meditate on the 14 stories about Jesus’ resurrection in the four Gospels and on the various chapters of Scripture and the testimony of St. Paul to the Resurrection. We should also reflect on the daily Mass readings, which are related to the Resurrection. We can live the spirit of Easter in our homes by keeping lighted candles and simple decoration throughout the entire season. Make Easter the central aspect of prayer during this beautiful season. As we pray every day, we ask the Risen Lord continually to enter our lives to conquer sin. God in the resurrected Jesus, is living in us and He will strengthen our faith. Our lives will be full of joy as we allow ourselves to be pointed to the truth that He is risen and He is alive.

The Lord is truly risen to fill and inspire a new spirit and new meaning in our Christian lives. It has awakened a new purpose in us. Our lives have beauty now because He has risen and He lives in us always. We are Easter people - people of joy and people of hope, filled with the spirit of Alleluia, the Risen Lord.

As the sun rises in the East to begin a new day, may this Easter - the celebration of the Victory of the Lord - bring us all a new commitment to the Life of Jesus and to the life of our community. “We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song!” (St. John Paul II).

WISHING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A BLESSED AND JOYFUL EASTER!